More blinking. “But how?”
Piper couldn’t stop the wicked smile remembering all those opportunities for the how. “The usual way. Apparently I fall into that one percent of cases where birth control failed. I suppose you have really determined sperm.”
“We made a baby? Really?” He was looking at her, but not really. Piper couldn’t read him. Was this still shock or was he trying to hold back his reaction?
“Yeah.” She bit her lip. “I’m sorry.”
Myles attention suddenly focused laser sharp on her. “I’m not.” His his grin stretched wide, bursting across his face like a sunrise. “This is awesome!” He picked her up and spun her around with a whoop that had Preston giggling. “Did you hear that Pres? I’m gonna be a daddy! You’re gonna get a cousin to corrupt.”
“You’re really happy?” God knew she couldn’t trust her own interpretation of things just now.
“Are you kidding? A piece of you and a piece of me? How awesome is that?” He laid his free hand over her flat belly. “We’re going to be a family.” The soft reverence in his voice absolutely undid her.
Piper laid her hand over his, fighting tears again—happy ones this time. “I thought you’d be…well, honestly, I had no idea how you’d react. I’ve been freaking out.”
“Why? You’re going to make an amazing mother.” His unshakable conviction bolstered her.
“We didn’t plan on this. We haven’t even talked about kids or a timeline—”
Myles cut her off with a lingering kiss. “Sweetheart, I think we just need to accept that we’re never going to do anything on a normal timeline, ever.”
She settled against him with a contented sigh. “You make a good point.”
“And you know what?” He laced his hands at the small of her back. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Epilogue
14 Months Later
Piper woke disoriented. Was it the baby? She listened with that part of her mother’s brain that could assess in an instant whether she needed to get up, while keeping her eyes shut. If it was nothing, she’d slip back into blissful sleep. For at least five more minutes.
But she didn’t hear Parker. She heard…birdsong?
Her eyes flew open to see daylight. Daylight? What time is it?
The bedside clock read 8:14. Dumbfounded, she stared. That couldn’t be right. Could it? She hadn’t slept this late in months. Not since well before Parker was born. Hearing absolutely nothing in the house, she had a moment of irrational panic. Had everyone suddenly died in the night?
This is what the zombie apocalypse sounds like.
She rolled over. Myles wasn’t in bed, but the newspaper was. On his pillow lay a copy of the Sunday edition, neatly folded so that his editorial was front and center. If the zombie apocalypse had hit, he wouldn’t have left her reading material.
Propping herself up in bed, Piper picked it up and began to read.
The Wishful Observer
Sunday, June 18
The Things No One Told Me About Fatherhood
By Myles Stewart
Confession: Before this time last year, I’d never given much thought to being a father. Parenthood was one of those things that hung out on the horizon of the distant, hazy Someday. A Thing You Are Supposed To Do, but not one I’d given any serious consideration. At least not until I met my wife. Even then, with occasional daydreams of what traits our offspring might get from each of us, it was still a Thing of the Future.
The whole prospect became very real in the months following our wedding, while my wife valiantly struggled through what I am convinced was the worst case of morning sickness the world has ever known. (Editor’s note: She informs me there is a condition known as hyperemesis gravidarium that is far worse. I shudder to imagine) Either way, it’s a horrible thing, to see the woman you love fighting a personal war against an enemy you can’t see and not being able to do anything more than offer sympathies, cold washcloths, and endless supplies of ginger ale.
There are so many things I simply didn’t know.
No one told me that finding out I was going to be a father would feel like winning the lottery.